Allan Sherman, the Nut

The first album I ever bought was My Son, The Nut, a 1963 song parody album by Allan Sherman. It included a song called Hello Muddah, Hello Fadduh, a young boy’s letter to his parents from camp, sung to the tune of Ponchielli’s Dance of the Hours. The song was a huge hit.

Allan Sherman was the “Weird Al” Yankovic of the 60’s. Although he started out in the 50’s as a game show producer, his friends convinced him to record some of the parody songs that he had been performing at parties. His first album, My Son, the Folk Singer, was so successful that he recorded a series of equally successful parody albums.

He became a celebrity practically overnight, and his star shown brightly for a few years, with TV appearances and even a book. But his fame faded almost as quickly as it had appeared, and his later albums were not well-received. Some thought that the country was not in the mood for his style of comedy following JFK’s assassination.

He died on November 20, 1973 of emphysema, just a few days short of his 49th birthday, but while he was here he was pretty damn entertaining.